Penrith shut out the Dragons and move into top eight with win over Dragons

When a team puts in a strong performance, the coach takes notice, and for the Penrith Panthers in their clash against the Dragons, it was a masterclass, with coach Ivan Cleary praising his side’s opening 40 as they cruised to a 19-0 victory over the St George Illawarra Dragons.

It was an 18-0 half-time lead that had the Panthers in control, as they held the Dragons scoreless at Kogarah for the first time in their history.

“I thought our start was probably the best we’ve had all year,” Cleary said.

“In the second half I thought they were setting the pace and we were hanging on, but somehow we found a way numerous times to keep them scoreless.”

With a bye coming up and a clash against the injury-stricken Tigers in Rd 13, the Panthers can head into the second half of the season in a great position.

“It’s a long way away from that (finals) but we’ve definitely improved so that’s the whole idea of it,” he said.

“I think our beliefs gone up to new levels over the last three weeks so obviously that’s a good thing and we’re just trying to keep improving.”

“If Buy Tramadol you make the eight you’ll deserve it. Where you finish is where you deserve to finish so we’re not worrying about that at the moment.”

One player that has impressed Cleary and the Panthers organisation is fullback Matt Moylan, who recently re-signed with the club for a couple more seasons.

“He’s done very well,” Cleary said.

“He could have possibly played last year but missed out through injury but I think we all think he has done a lot better than we could have hoped. He is a good young player.”

When it was his turn to talk, Dragons coach Steve Price was honest. Brutally honest.

“That was a very disappointing loss, I didn’t see that coming,” Price said.

“We came off a very good win against the Eels last week and had a good week at training.

“There was no drive to start the game with any intent and they certainly did and we found ourselves 18-0 down at halftime.

“In life you have to earn the right to get those decisions. It’s about the want and the intent and we didn’t do that from the outset.”